TAMPA, Fla. — Quarterback Baker Mayfield may have looked like he was trying to carry the hopes of a very depleted Tampa Bay Buccaneers ball club when making his epic 15-yard scramble on third-and-14 in Week 6 in their 30-19 victory over the San Francisco 49ers.

Just moments before that play, it was announced that rookie wide receiver Emeka Egbuka — his top target this season — was doubtful to return with a hamstring injury, leaving him now without the team’s top four receivers — with Mike Evans, Chris Godwin Jr. and Jalen McMillan all out because of injury.

But when asked in his postgame news conference if he felt like he was shouldering more of the load in that moment, he said, “No,” and instead used it as a chance to build up the guys who stepped up — such as rookie receiver Tez Johnson and second-year receiver Kameron Johnson, who both caught their first career touchdowns in that game.

“I truly, genuinely trust the guys that are in there,” Mayfield said. “They’re ready. Guys are on the same page and that’s real. I trust these guys, even though some of them might not have played a whole lot of ball.”

One look in Mayfield’s eyes, and you can tell he’s sincere in his belief. And then there’s a guy such as Sterling Shepard — Mayfield’s former teammate at Oklahoma, who thought his career was over last year before Mayfield lured him from “daddy drop-off duty” to becoming one of Mayfield’s most dependable weapons this season. He showed that when he caught the game-tying touchdown in a Week 5 last-minute win over the Seattle Seahawks.

Now, the Bucs (5-1) hit the road to take on the Detroit Lions (4-2) on “Monday Night Football” (7 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN), where Mayfield will once again try to help lead an injury-ravaged team. In short, they will be without Godwin (fibula) and McMillan (neck), and they also will be without standout second-year running back Bucky Irving (shoulder/foot).

There is some reason for optimism though, with Evans likely to play, while Egbuka “has a real chance” to be on the field, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

“Our team, I believe in it,” Mayfield said. “I said it from training camp — I like the young guys that we have, I like the people that we have. Obviously, it is never ideal when you are having to move people around all the time, do not get me wrong, but nobody cares. Nobody feels bad for you, so you have to find a way to make it work.”

When Mayfield first arrived in Tampa Bay in the wake of Tom Brady’s retirement in 2023, he was on a one-year deal with a base salary of $4 million — where he had to prove himself.

The move was about being surrounded with a talented supporting cast, where he wouldn’t have to be the hero. But he has led his team to the postseason and smashed personal-best records in each of the past two years — including throwing 41 touchdowns last season. He earned a new three-year, $100 million contract extension in 2024 and was rewarded with an additional $30 million guaranteed for 2026 in July.

Now, for a third straight year, Mayfield has found a way to once again elevate his game. And if anything, that scramble in Week 6 showed a key point of emphasis he has tried to drive home to his squad: “You don’t have to have the perfect play when all your guys are fighting for each other and are on the same page.”

“I mean, everybody knows that Baker’s playing at an unbelievable level right now,” Kameron Johnson said. “So, I mean, it don’t matter who’s out there. Any given Sunday, whenever Baker Mayfield is out there, there’s a chance to win. And he’s playing at an unbelievable MVP level right now.”

When training camp first started, Tez Johnson, a seventh-round draft pick out of Oregon, said he felt like “bullets were flying.” The competition was intense, and the group was quite easily the deepest position group out on the field.

Mayfield pulled him aside and said, “Just settle down. It’ll come to you,” Johnson recalled.

Mayfield then invited him to watch film together at 5 a.m.

“He was already here at 4:30,” Johnson said. “He just gave me advice on how the league works and how I should think on certain routes and that allowed me to know, ‘All right, he believes in me, so I’m going to do my best of my ability to go out there and perform for him.'”

Two plays after Mayfield’s scramble, Johnson was supposed to go across the field on second-and-11 from the San Francisco 45-yard line, but when he saw a void in the defense, he instead waved his arm to get Mayfield’s attention and turned it into a go route.

Mayfield saw it and heaved it deep while Johnson raced to the end zone — where he punctuated the score with a tumbling celebration.

“A good adjustment on his part,” Mayfield said. “Safety’s waiting on the other side for him, so he just takes it up the middle. It’s not necessarily a busted coverage, they had it covered well if you run the drawings on the paper, but Tez making an adjustment on the fly — that’s huge for a rookie to be able to do, and do it confidently in the midst of the game like that, especially in that moment.”

Mayfield said that’s part of what leadership means to him.

“You’ve got to know your job, and do it well, but also empowering the guys to feel like they can go above and beyond,” Mayfield said. “And that’s a huge thing of leadership, instilling confidence. And it’s not a false confidence though. It’s making sure they really have it down, and then at that point, they realize it and then they take it on their own. So those guys have done a good job and now we just trust them.”

Kameron Johnson was a 2024 undrafted free agent and missed significant practice time this summer because of injuries, but he found his way onto the roster after showing something as a punt and kick returner in his lone preseason game.

When his number was called, he turned his first target of the season into a 34-yard touchdown.

“I’m this wide-open? I was just in shock,” said Johnson, who had four catches for 64 yards. “I saw the safety press down on [tight end Cade Otton]. I thought he was going to bump off then. Lo and behold, he never bumped off, and I was just running and I was like, ‘Oh Lord, let me see if Baker just makes eye contact with me.’ It was just wide-open. It was a walk-in, easy touchdown.”

Wide receivers coach Bryan McLendon said regardless of whom Mayfield is targeting, their success is a function of him holding everyone to the same standard he holds himself to.

“That is what has been a really good thing right now — that shows the person that he is, the player that he is, the leader that he is, the franchise guy that he is, I could go on-and-on-and-on with what he means to us,” McLendon said. “The biggest thing is just the confidence that he shows, and everybody out there on the field with him [are like], ‘Hey, you do your job, I am going to do mine and let’s go out there and see what happens.'”